If you will, for our Bible reading
this morning, turn with me to 1 Peter 3. This will be the text for my
message this morning. And I want you to be familiar
with the verses that lead up to it. And we'll go through those
things a little at a time. 1 Peter 3. We'll begin reading
in verse 8. Finally, be ye all of one mind. What mind? The mind of Christ. Be of one mind. Having compassions
one of another. Why? Love as brethren. Be pitiful. Be courteous. Oh, we need to
think on that, don't we? How quick these mouths, so rude, so quick, so critical. Be courteous. Not rendering evil
for evil or railing for railing. but contrary wise, blessing,
knowing that ye are there unto called, that you should inherit
a blessing. For he that will love life and
see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil." Oh, there's
nothing in this body more dangerous than this right here. That'll cause you more heartache
than anything else. Refrain his tongue from evil
and his lips that they should speak no guile. Let him eschew
evil and do good. Let him seek peace and ensue
it. Don't just say, well, I sure
wish I had some peace. No. Seek it. Ensue it! Go after it! For the eyes of the Lord are
over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers.
But the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. Oh, I tell
you, I know something about God's face of love and mercy and grace. And I know something, just a
little, about the face of His wrath. Oh, you don't want that
face looking at you. And who is he that will harm
you if you be followers of that which is good? But, and if you
suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are you. And be not afraid
of their terror, neither be troubled. But sanctify, set apart the Lord
God in your hearts. And be ready always to give an
answer to every man that asketh you a reason for the hope that
is in you with meekness and fear. Having a good conscience that
whereas they speak evil of you, that's just a cult over there.
That's what that is. Hate to hear you're going over
there. They hate God over there. having a good conscience that
whereas they speak evil of you as evildoers, they might be ashamed
that falsely accuse you, that accuse your good conversation
in Christ. For it's better, if the will
of God be so, that you suffer for well-doing than for evil. If you don't pay taxes, you're
going to suffer the consequences, and it's not a good thing. But
when you suffer for righteousness' sake, when you suffer because
you love somebody and you're trying to minister to them, that's
a good thing. It's better, if the will of God
be so, that you suffer for well-doing than for evil. For Christ also
hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that
he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but
quickened by the Spirit. By which also he went and preached
unto the spirits in prison, which sometimes were disobedient, when
once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while
the ark was a-preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls, were
saved by water, the like figure whereunto even baptism doth also
now save us, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh,
but the answer of a good conscience toward God. by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is on the right
hand of God, angels and authorities and powers being made subject
unto him. We'll turn back with me now to
1 Peter chapter 3. I'm going to try to limit my
comments as much as I can to verses 15 through 20. I was thinking as I read these
verses, what a privilege it is for me to be among God's saints. What a privilege. Do you know
what a privilege that is? I spent time in the world. I
spent time in false religion. I spent time in my home by myself. You know what a privilege it
is to come up here and be among God's saints? To have fellowship with you.
We can talk to one another. Fellowship's fellers in the same
ship, isn't it? We're in the same ship. We can
talk to one another about these things. And I want us to. I want to encourage you to. And have like precious faith. Listen how he begins his second
letter to all these God's elect scattered abroad
all over the place. Listen to how he starts this.
He said, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father
through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling
of the blood of Jesus Christ. Light, precious, faith. And I
love seeing the faces of God's people, whether it be here or
in Kingsport or in Rocky Mountain or wherever it is. seeing the
faces of God's people. They're so happy. What do we
got to be sad about? My wife died. My wife of 47 years. I watched her in a coma until
she died. And being jealous, I suppose,
of my own comforts, I mourned her death. But I rejoiced. She has what I want. She's where
I hope to be. What we got to be sad about?
Just little things, just a little thing. They're not big things.
Not in the light of what's going on and in the light of eternity.
They're just a little tiny thing. But I love seeing the faces of
God's children and especially those who hunger to hear and
are fed in the green pastures of his gospel. I love calling
out your names before God. I'm having pictures made now
from all the congregations. I want them in my study. I want
to be able to look at your faces when I call your name out before
God. I love you. I ain't just saying
that, I mean it. I love you. And I love to set the precious
promises of God on a gospel table and say to you what the Lord
said to his apostles. It's already prepared. Come and
dine. Come and eat. Eat to the full. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 2,
a begs in Christ desiring the sincere milk of the word. And
he said, they will do this. I had one child who was breastfed.
And I didn't have to teach him how
to breastfeed. He already knew how. Already
knew how. Newborn babes. God's given you
the ability to drink that sincere milk of the word. Be thankful.
Be thankful. Be thankful for the church that
cuddled you in their arm and put you to the breast. Huh? This they're going to do, Peter
said, and so be they tasted that the Lord is gracious. It's not
the knowledge of grace, the fact of grace, or even your adherence
of the grace of God that saves. It's the reality of having that
grace experienced in your heart. That's what saves. Other than that, it's just words.
Even though they be true words, it's just words. And our Lord
said, except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his
blood, you have no life in you. He didn't say acknowledge the
blood, though we do. He didn't say to acknowledge
his flesh. He said to eat it. Eat it. Who so eateth my flesh, and drinketh
my blood, hath eternal life, and I raise him up at the last
day. And concerning these things,
he turned to his disciples, the rest of them, and said, he's
nuts. He's talking about eating flesh.
He's nuts. And he turned around and walked
away. And our Lord turned to his apostles,
and he said, will you go too? And they said, where are we going
to go? Where are we going to go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. Where are we going to go? And he looked at them and he
said, it is the spirit that quickeneth. The flesh profiteth nothing.
Now watch this. The words that I speak unto you,
they are spirit and they are life. And you know what he said
to his preachers? He that heareth you, heareth
me. These are words of life, my friend. And if God gives you life, if
he's pleased to give it to you, this is how he's going to do
it. That's how he's going to do it. Oh, that our dear Lord and our
loving Father might be pleased today to speak such words to
us. My subject this morning is suffering
for sinners. And if you're here today and
you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you are as prepared for
heaven's glory as you're ever going to be. Don't you let somebody
start sowing a seed of discord among you talking about progressive
sanctification. And we're going to get better
and better and better. You ain't getting better and better. Especially
not in your own eyes. You're getting worse and worse
and worse. His most descriptive words of
the flesh came in his old age. Why? Because the light's brighter
now. You can see what you couldn't
see back then. When my son was born, he was
as much my son as he's ever going to be. He's born of my seed,
he bears my name, and he bears my image. He can't get out of
it. Can't get out of it. Salvation is being in Christ. That's what it is. Of God, he
said, are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom,
and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, that according
as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Now here's the question. Why,
if all of what I just told you is true, why would he not take
us straight into glory? When He revealed Christ to you,
when He broke your heart and then gave you that new heart
and then came in and dwelt with you and revealed that thing and
you saw His glory, why didn't, right then, why didn't He just
take you off into glory? If God chose me in Christ, made
provision for me in Christ, redeemed me in Christ, sanctified me,
once for all, He said, once for all. Perfected me forever. Why am I still in this world? Our Lord bowed His head and prayed
to His Father in John 17. And He said, Father, I have given
them Thy Word. They understand it. That's what
He's talking about. The message of the Word. The
testimony of the Word. Just exactly what Peter talked
about in 1 Peter 1. 23 through 25. We're born again
of that incorruptible Word. And then he gets down to verse
25 and he said, this is the Word which by the Gospel is sent unto
you. I've given them that Word. That
Word. The Word. The message of it.
The revelation of it. The reason for it. The glory
of it. I've given it to them. I've given them thy Word and
the world hates them because of it. I hate them. Because they're not of the world.
In what sense? Now listen, I'm reading this
verbatim. Even as I am not of the world. What? How is he not of the world? Huh? He's God overall, isn't
he? He's not of the world. He made the world. He made the
world. When did He save us? Farther back than I can tell,
Beth. We're not of the world because
He chose us way back yonder. Before there's ever a world,
before there was ever air to breathe, before there's ever
a sun to shine light on this world, God put me in His Son. Did He not? Ain't that what Scripture
said? God has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which
was given us before the foundation of the world. I'm not of the
world. I'm not of the world. I have
eternal life. That means that life started
way back there in eternity and it'll never end. It'll never
end. They're not of the world even
as I'm not of the world. Christ was of the world in His
body. He was of the world in time.
When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His
Son made of a woman. He was of the world in sight
and sound. People heard Him speak. They
saw His face. John said, Our hands have handled
of the Word of life. But he's not of this world in
his spirit, and neither are we. He's not under its curse, and
neither are we. He's not of its motives and desires,
neither are we. He's not under its limitations. We're not subject to its end. They're not of the world even
as I'm not of the world. That's what the Lord said. They're not of the world even
as I'm not of the world. Verse 15. Now watch this. I pray. Does he get everything he prays
for? He said he did. He said the Father does always
hear me. He holds nothing back from me.
I pray not that thou should take them out of the world. Oh, we're
here by the will of God. Isn't that what that's saying?
But that thou shouldest keep them from the evil one. Keep them from the evil. And
now he's talking about the evil one, he's talking about Satan
and antichrist religion. Now watch this, verse 16, John
17. As thou hast sent me into the
world, so have I also sent them into the world. Well, why in
the world? Why was Christ sent into the
world? Because we're sent for the same
reason. Why was he sent into the world?
To suffer for chosen sinners. Ain't that why we're sent? to
suffer the chosen sinners, to preach the gospel to the poor
no matter what the cost, to set the captives free, to open the
eyes of the blind to all preachers. You don't open the blind eyes.
I do when they hear. I do when they hear. Them eyes
are wide open. They see. He sent us into the world to
declare the acceptable year of the Lord. And Christ was sent
into this world to manifest the love of God, the mercy of God,
the grace of God, the wisdom of God. Christ was sent into
this world to save sinners. It pleased God. Are you listening? It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. He sends us into this
present evil world for the calling out and care of His elect. Serving Christ is not a chore. If it's a chore to you to serve
Christ, you've missed Christ. You've missed Him altogether.
I used to go up to Canada fishing. Drove clear up to the Arctic
watershed. And that's where we settled.
Got in a boat and a guy drew us out a little map and we go
back there. And we had to go through five lakes that were
backed up by beaver dams, and not no little beaver dams like
you see around here. Those things were 10, 12 feet
tall, backed up huge bodies of water. And we didn't have anything
but just a boat like we fish over on the river with, a little
metal boat. And we'd have to get out and drag that thing down
over that beaver dam, bring the motor down, bring all supplies
down, the gas tank, hook it all back up. And then we putter through
the grass. And all of a sudden, we come out into a lake. And
we go across that. And then we had to do it again.
We had to do it five times going out and five times coming back
to camp. And I get back home. And man,
I just skipping around. Boy, I just had a ball. And then
my boss would say, well, go do that. Do I have to? Well, he said, from what you're
telling me, you worked yourself to death up there in Canada fishing.
What makes the difference? One is fun. We love to fish. So it ain't a big problem to
pull that boat down over that dam or pull it back up. We love
it. Believers love what we're doing. It's not a chore, is it? It's
not a chore. I'm blessed to be your pastor. It's not a chore for me. It's
not something I decided I need to do. It's not something sacrificial.
Oh, pastor, you sold that big house and you quit your job.
This ain't a chore for me. This is not sacrificial on my
part. I want to be here. If I didn't
want to be here, I wouldn't be here. I didn't have to come here. I had a good job. I didn't have to come here. I
wanted to come here. And I don't want you to ever
think, oh, he made such a sacrifice. My soul sacrificed. God blessed me to be your pastor. It's a blessing to me. Paul told the Ephesians, he said,
Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this
grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable
riches of Christ. Unto me, who am less than the
least. Oh, he said in Ephesians 3.8,
And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery,
which from the beginning of the world hath been hid of God, who
created all things. by Jesus Christ. And then he
tells us in 1 Peter 3.14, But, and if ye suffer for righteousness'
sake, happy are ye. Happy? Happy? I've had to suffer in
my life a little, not like some have, but a little. And I tell
you, it never made me happy. Happy? Evil men chiding at me and lies
being spread about me all over the neighborhood. Good intentions
being cast aside. Happy? Happy? How can suffering make
us happy? Because we know why we're suffering. And we know for whom we're suffering.
We know for whom. And because we know it's the
will of God, and because we know how necessary it is to the salvation
of sinners. And then the Lord says this,
He said, don't you be afraid of their terror, their bunch
of blowhards. Don't you be afraid of their
terror, neither be troubled. 1 Peter 3.15. But sanctify the
Lord God in your hearts. And be ready always to give an
answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that's
in you with meekness and fear. Now listen, as the Bible begins
to testify concerning the salvation of sinners, two names of God
are employed, Elohim and Jehovah. You don't find Jehovah in chapter
1 of Genesis. You find Elohim. Each of these
names have a definite significance and are never used alternately. In Genesis 1, he uses the word
God, Elohim. He uses that word 29 times. 29 times in the first chapter
of Genesis. And the word God here means Elohim,
Creator, Absolute God, Eternal God. And then in Genesis 2, he
begins to use another name, the Lord God. Now that's what Peter's
talking about. Sanctify the Lord God in your
heart. Jehovah. And Jehovah is God's
covenant name. He only uses that name in relation
to his people. When he's dealing with his people,
he reveals himself as Jehovah, their covenant God. That's his
covenant name. The Lord God made the heavens
and the earth. The Lord God, I mean, the Lord
God had not made it to reign upon the earth. The Lord God
formed man, the Lord God planted a garden, the Lord God made a
woman for Adam, and so it goes 20 times in chapter 2 and 3 of
Genesis. God deals with lost sinners by
way of a mediator, and his name is Jehovah. And as the Bible
goes on, that name Jehovah begins to appear in compound form. Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will
seek to it, the Lord will provide. Jehovah Repah, the Lord that
healeth thee. Jehovah Nissi, the Lord our banner. And what these compound names
mean is this, our covenant God will save sinners by his provision,
by his healing, under his banner. Jehovah Kadish, the Lord our
sanctification. Jehovah Raya, by his shepherd. Jehovah Hasenu, by his making. And Jehovah, the Lord our God. Jehovah Shalom,
the Lord our peace. Jehovah Shekinu, the Lord our
righteousness. Sanctify the Lord God, as he's
revealed in the scripture. Sanctify, set him apart in your
mind. This is my righteousness. This
is my salvation. This is the banner under which
I follow and serve. Am I going to war? I better be
under His banner or you're going to lose. He's my righteousness. He's all. Sanctify the Lord God in your
hearts. And be ready always to give an
answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope. And
our great God has by way of his mediator, the man Christ Jesus,
reconciled a people to himself, being made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. He's come, our great covenant
God, into the flesh, John said, and we know that the Son of God
has come and given to us an understanding. that we may know Him that's true.
How do you know Him? Through His covenant, this covenant
God. An understanding that we may,
by His permission, by right and privilege, may know Him that
is true. And we're in Him that's true,
even in His Son, Jesus Christ. Sanctify the Lord God in your
heart. And as He's revealed, as He manifests
Himself in the man, Christ Jesus. Set Him apart as your righteousness,
your atonement, your representative, your substitute. Set Him apart
as your wisdom, your revelation of God. Set Him apart as your
Lord, absolute Lord and Redeemer. And if you do, you'll be always
ready to give a reason to anybody that asks. What's your hope? Oh, let me just sit right here,
let me tell you. The Lord Jesus Christ. Now let
me tell you who He is. And when I get done, I'm going
to tell you why He came. And when I get done, I'm going
to tell you what He did. And when I get done with that,
I'm going to tell you where He is. And when I get done with that,
I'm going to tell you He's coming back. He's coming back. You'll be properly motivated
and willing to suffer in this world for chosen sinners. And
understanding what's at stake, understanding why we're here,
understanding something of the glory of God being manifested,
we'll be careful to maintain the highest order of morality
and godliness before men. Oh God, help me not to put your
dear Son and my Savior in a bad light by something I say or do. 1 Peter 3.16, having a good conscience. Whereas they speak evil of you
as evildoers, they might be ashamed to falsely accuse you. And to
this end, the Holy Ghost gives us three things. He gives us
a perfect example. A perfect example. And he gives
us an illustration. And then he gives us a picture.
So let me just briefly touch on these things and I'll wind
this up. First of all, our example, verse 18. For Christ also hath
once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might
bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened
by the Spirit. There's not a better example
in all the world of suffering for the glory of God and the
good of men than Jesus Christ. You need a pattern? Don't follow
your grandpa. Look to Christ. Here's the example. Here's a perfect man with perfect
motive, perfect love, perfect knowledge. Suffering in this
world. He suffered. Every time I think
about the suffering of Christ, I run to the cross and I'm sitting
there just marred. Let me tell you something. He suffered before he was born. There was no room found for Mary
in the inn. She had to have that baby in
a cow stable. Cow dung and straw mingled together
laying on the floor. She had that child. Wrapped him
up in whatever cloth she had real tight, that's what swaddling
clothes are, and laid him in a manger. Before barely, barely
he was circumcised on the eighth day and Harry tried to kill all
the babies trying to get to him to kill him. As a teenager, he
was run out of the country and had to move again. And around
30 years old, he began to preach to sinners, hounded by the scribes
and Pharisees, by the High Council of Israel, by the lawyers, the
high priests, everywhere he went. and even by his most trusted
and loyal companions, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, and his own disciples. And it caused him to groan in
his spirit and weep as he suffered their unbelief and their unwarranted
doubt of his love. Suffer for sinners? My soul,
here's my example. Here's my example. Nobody ever suffered like he
suffered. Nobody. There's my example. Peter in his denial. And all of them as they pursued
him and went back to their nets. Oh God, give this man, this unworthy
man, such a love and compassion for sinners. I want them to know,
if they don't understand anything I say, when they come in here
and walk out that door, I want them to walk out knowing I care
for them. If they don't, I want that. Don't you? I want people when
they come in here to feel the love of God, even if they can't
understand it. Greet them, smile at them, give
them a hug. It's not going to hurt you. And then our Lord gives us an
illustration of this suffering, 1 Peter 3.19, by which also He,
that is Christ, went and preached unto the spirits in prison, which
sometime were disobedient when once the longsuffering of God
waited in the days of Noah while the ark was prepared. And oh,
what an illustration this is. of the Spirit of Christ going
out in the ministry of Noah. Christ went out in him, and he
says here, Christ went out and preached. That was Noah preaching,
wasn't it? No, that's Christ preaching. That's Christ preaching. Oh, that was Henry Mahan preaching
that message. No, that was Christ preaching. That's Christ preaching. He went out in the, what kind
of spirit? Spirit of Christ. He went out in the ministry of
Noah preaching to fallen sinners, doomed sinners, sinners locked
up in chains of darkness walking in the vanity of their mind and
for 120 years the long suffering of God waited. God in His wrath
and holy justice ready to utterly destroy a world of ungodly men. But God had a people in Christ.
He had a people in Christ. And while that ark was preparing,
our God suffered their ungodly mocking and laughing and jeering
and sneering at Him. And God suffered their disconcern
and their callousness. They went right on marrying and
giving and married. They ignored everything that
man said. You talk about suffering for sinners. A holy God allowed
a world of men and women whose every imagination of the thoughts
of their heart, only evil continually, he's got the hammer drawn back,
and he's going to wipe this world out. But before he does, he's
going to save his people. Do you know that's what the situation
is right now? Do you know that? When he quickened
us, Walter, when he quickened us, what did he say? Back then, before Aquinas, we
were children of wrath, even as others. But God ain't gonna
let you go under His wrath. God ain't gonna send a flood
over your soul. No, He's gonna save your soul.
And so He sends a man out, Noah, of all the men. Now listen to
me, Noah's sons wasn't born for 20 years. He'd been working on
that ark 20 years. Go back and read it. Do your
math, real simple math. His children wasn't born. He'd
been working on that ark 20 years before he ever had a baby. And
them babies didn't help him until they got up old enough to help
him and old enough to hear his gospel. Now you're up close to
40 years. 40 years out of that 120 years
Noah was working by himself. And this man just kept right
on preaching. Right on preaching. Until them eight souls walked
into that ark. Oh, I tell you when God, when
He starts talking to you about His wrath, they have moved me
to jealousy with that which is not God. Oh, they provoke me
to anger with their vanities, and I will move them now to jealousy,
for a fire is kindled in me, in mine anger, and shall burn
unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase,
and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. You think God's
not ready to burn this world up? There ain't but one thing
holding that hand back from absolutely burning this place to cinders.
He has a people. And you know what this little
church is doing? You're supporting a pastor who's calling, calling
those people. There's nothing, I'm telling
you, it's the only reason we're here. When this is done, not
one second is going to expire, not even a fraction of a second.
When this is done, it's over. It's over. What are you trying to say, preacher?
I'm trying to tell you, get your butt in here every time we meet. Amen. Get in here and hear. Get your children in here to
hear. God's going to wind this thing up.
He's going to wind it up. Oh, with a drawn sword in his
hand, God sends the sweet spirit of Christ in the gospel by Noah. And then lastly, God gives us
a picture. Here's Noah in the ark. Picture,
if you can, a great boat, a mammoth vessel sitting on a dry field. Old Noah's been preaching 120
years. And for 120 years, the whole
known world was opposed to that vessel. Oh, what a mockery that
vessel was to them. How foolish. What a waste of
time. It's never rained. What are you
thinking? It's never rained. Creek didn't
rise. Ocean didn't come up. Why are you building a boat? They didn't even know it was
a boat. He had to tell them what it was. The whole known world was opposed
to that vessel and God's minister, and they laughed at him. Oh,
how they must have rolled on the ground as they watched him
lead the creatures into that ark. Crazy old Noah, look at
him. How they must have poked fun
at him as he carried provision inside the ark. He think that
little handful of feed gonna feed all those animals? And no doubt they waited to see
how those eight souls would close that big three story door. That
door held two elephants side by side. It served as a ramp
and they walked up by that door right into that ark. Everything
God intended to say went through that door. They laughed and jeered as they
kept on in their sins to one day old Noah and his fellow heirs
walked into the ark and stood looking back at the world and
that great door began to come up. And that door closed and
God shut them in. He shut them in. And then came the wrath of God.
And they knew not until the flood came and took them all away. Are you listening? So shall also
the coming of the Son of Man be. Oh, Lord God, knowing something
of that fountain open for sin and uncleanness and the utter
doom and everlasting torment of hell, Help me somehow, even
with tears as I preach, help me to be faithful to it,
and use it for your glory, and call out your sheep. Amen. Thank you.